The Force Unleashed II – Why This Is The Sequel You're Looking For

The original game had a great story but the gameplay didn't live up to its potential. We look at how the team is building a better sequel.

By Cam Shea

We've been really impressed with what we've seen of The Force Unleashed II to date, so let's take a look at the areas it's likely to excel in.

A Story That Matters

The original game introduced us to Starkiller, Darth Vader's secret apprentice, and provided an interesting story set between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It was far from filler, and helped bridge the gap between the two trilogies with compelling new canon. In fact, the original game's greatest strength was the story, so it's no surprise that this will be a big focus for the sequel as well.

Rather than the big epoch-shifting events of the original, however, which saw Starkiller hunting down the last of the Jedi before – SPOILER ALERT – turning his back on Veda, forming the Rebel Alliance and sacrificing himself, The Force Unleashed II will tell a more personal story. This title opens with Starkiller once again under the tutelage of Darth Vader. Vader tells this seemingly resurrected Starkiller that he's a clone, which would make sense given how the original game ended. It's unclear whether this is the truth or not, however, as this reborn Starkiller is haunted by memories of Juno Eclipse – the love interest from the first game. Vader tells him these memories are a side-effect of the cloning process and that's he's a failure as a clone, and that all the clones that have come before him have gone insane. Unsurprisingly, after this lovely little pep talk he goes on the run to uncover the truth.

"One of the things we're really focusing on in the story of The Force Unleashed II is this notion that in the first game Starkiller was a hunter, [whereas] in this game he's very much a fugitive," says Haden Blackman, the executive producer and franchise director for The Force Unleashed. "He's on the run, he's looking for Juno Eclipse and Darth Vader's always one step behind him."

Pursued by Vader, The Force Unleashed II will have plenty of explosive action and set pieces, but at the core of the game will be the story of Starkiller's search for the truth of his identity. In fact, the team sees this game as its Empire Strikes Back as far as tone is concerned – it will be darker, more personal and the odds more overwhelming. Starkiller will be reunited with a number of central characters from the original, including his mentor General Kota – who firmly believes that Vader is lying and no one this powerful can be cloned.

Like the original, this will be important stuff for Star Wars fans, and it's going to wrap up in an unexpected way. "We don't talk about this much," Blackman says, "but I think the ending for this game is going to surprise a lot of people. I think fans are going to be like 'oh my god I can't believe they did that, that's awesome!' I hope they say that's awesome. I think they're going to think we're being kinda – for lack of a better word – ballsy with the way we end the game."

Better Base Combat

Starkiller is faster and more responsive in combat now, and he has a whole new set of combos – including sweeping area of effect attacks - thanks to the fact that he's wielding twin lightsabers. The sabers are set to feel a whole lot deadlier now too – as opposed to just being a "blue baseball bat" as Haden Blackman described the saber from the original. Case in point, the lightsaber will now do more realistic damage, slicing off the heads and limbs of any Stormtroopers unfortunate enough to stick their heads (or other appendages) in your way. Of course, it's still not going to act like a lightsaber actually would, letting you cut holes in the floor or simply slicing through an ATST's legs to topple it over, but that would be potentially game breaking stuff. It may just be a baby step for the lightsaber, but it's an important one nonetheless.

The improvements to the base combat are obviously a big plus, and they'll be accentuated by flashy cinematic finishing sequences for bosses. These won't be anything more than quicktime events, however, and will be very simple to execute. They're designed more as a pay-off for beating a boss than as a crucial part of the fight.

It's All About Kicking Ass With The Force

This is the team's mantra for The Force Unleashed II. While many Force powers return from the original, they've been re-built from the ground up to be more responsive. "Force grip, in particular – which was one of our favourite powers from the first game – went through a lot of revisions in order to make it more accessible, to make it easier to target what you want to target," says Blackman. "We're focused on big, over the top Force power action. Force powers re-envisioned, unlike anything you've seen in the films."

One new Force power we've seen is Jedi Mind Trick, which can be used in a few different ways – you can make an enemy an ally, you can confuse Stormtroopers to the point where they'll throw themselves to their deaths, and you can turn them into mobile bombs by infusing them with so much Force energy that they'll explode, taking other nearby units with them.

Combat is designed to be flexible, so Starkiller can combine powers in a variety of ways. The Lightning Grenade, for instance, allows him to Force Grip an enemy, charge him with lightning and then throw him at other enemies for explosive results. Lightsaber attacks and Force powers can also be combined, so players can do things like charge up their lightsaber with lightning for extra attack power.

And then there's Force Fury mode, which amps up Starkiller's powers to a whole new level. Suddenly Force Push goes from being an effective attack against a handful of enemies to blasting anyone nearby into orbit, while familiar lightsaber combos go from being close melee attacks to potent ranged attacks.

The proof, of course, will be in the playing, but it's looking very promising. The team has also promised a higher level of destructibility and interactivity in the environment, so fingers crossed it delivers on that.